The full programme for East Lothian’s Fringe by the Sea has been confirmed and takes in music, literature, comedy, science, film and nature. The festival takes place from August 5 - 14.
The town will also be rocking with laughter with top comedians such as Frankie Boyle (pictured), Clive Anderson, Milton Jones, Angela Barnes (pictured), Troy Hawke and Hal Cruttenden with festival favourites Simon Evans and Fred MacAulay returning to North Berwick.
As usual there is a strong and varied music programme which includes Texas, The Happy Mondays, Ibibio Sound Machine, Candi Staton with support from Brooke Combe, Barbara Dickson, The Hacienda House Party, Aly Bain & Phil Cunningham, The Manfreds and Bombskare as well as jazz from Philip Contini, JazzMain Quartet and local legend Hamish McGregor.
For the first time, Fringe By The Sea will also be welcoming the RSNO as the festival’s first orchestra performing the music of John Williams (Harry Potter, Star Wars, ET, Superman). Yoko Pwno, DJ Refracta, Miracle Glass Company, Dean Owens and Wojtek the bear also feature.
Each year the literary element of the festival has grown and North Berwick will be welcoming Alexander McCall Smith, Val McDermid, Pat Nevin, Chitra Ramaswamy, Paula Hawkins, Alex Renton, and The Boozy Book Group with Alastair McKay. Interesting lives make fascinating events and there will be Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Mollie Hughes, Ruth Davidson, Jay Rayner, Esme Young and ex-CIA agent turned entrepreneur Rupal Patel.
This family friendly festival has so many events for younger folk from Comedy Club 4 Kids, to model making with Aardman, author Pamela Butchart, music with Major Minor Music Club and Monski Mouse Disco, SamSam Bubbleman, and learning how to illustrate with Eilidh Muldoon. And expect some mayhem with The Beano in town.
Get to know North Berwick from different angles for the daily Walk The Toun, to the crazy spectacle of the Silent Adventure Disco and events with local conservation groups. There are also daily yoga classes and many other wellbeing events.
The festival has a partnership with Belhaven Brewery which is supported by funding from Culture & Business Fund Scotland. Fringe By The Sea also has support from partners North Berwick Trust, The Scots Mag, Beano, Coulters, SSE Renewables, Marine North Berwick, The Lighthouse, McInroy & Wood, Artisan Drinks, SOLE, Emma Cross Interior Design, Gilsland Park, Signman, Too Far Media, Shaw Marketing and The List (media partner). Funding and services from Event Scotland, East Lothian Council, Creative Scotland and other partners including Scottish Seabird Centre, East Lothian Courier, Citizen Ticket has also been critical to the festival’s return.
2022 is Scotland’s Year Of Stories, so Fringe By The Sea will welcome our first Storyteller in Residence – Dr Lorna Hill who is a writer and facilitator who lives in nearby Dunbar. She has been working with Stepping Out, Dementia Friendly East Lothian and Heavy Sound on a community programme that will come alive during the 10 days.
The main setting for the festival is the Belhaven Big Top in the beautiful Lodge Grounds overlooking Bass Rock, Firth of Forth and Kingdom of Fife, with pop up events at North Berwick Library, the Scottish Seabird Centre and around down. There will also be delicious food and drink from the county’s best street food stalls.
Already hailed as a cultural and community success, Fringe By The Sea 2021 brought £3,139,616 of economic benefit to East Lothian, according to an independent report by MKA Economics. This represents a doubling (103% increase) over the 2019 figure (£1,546,609), and is driven by the increase in visitors to the event.
More than 39,000 people visited the festival, with 25,000 purchasing tickets to one of 200 events and an estimated 14,000 attending free events throughout the town across the ten days. In 2019, visitors totalled 19,500. Satisfaction was at an all-time high, with 95% rating the festival either excellent or very good and 86% said they would ‘definitely’ attend Fringe By The Sea in the future.
Commenting on the plans for August, Festival Director Rory Steel, said: “As ever the team at Fringe By The Sea has really pushed the boat out to create an exciting and diverse programme. We are so thankful for the support of the community in our move to the Lodge Grounds and we hope to have repaid their faith with a line up that’s going to get feet dancing, hearts chuckling and minds opened. We are especially proud of our strong community strands and urge visitors to seek them out and support our local talent.”
Check out dates, details and ticket links here.
